The appropriate role for government in the electricity industry has emerged as a major issue throughout the world, This is explained, using the terms of neoclassical economics, by shifts in the rationales for government intervention in that industry. The two historic rationales, natural monopoly and public good, have been diminishing in importance, while the need to deal with negative environmental externalities has been given increasing attention, This paper details the changes in each rationale and then synthesizes this information to probe the implications for policy, A key conclusion is that while there will be pressures toward similar polity responses and similar models for the electricity sector, there will remain opportunities and justification for significant differences between regions and countries.